Essex & Suffolk Border League

Division 1

Saturday 19th December 2020

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.04

Silver End United 1 Hedinghams United 0, attendance 57

43’ 1-0

@ Rear of Village Hall

Broadway

Silver End

CM8 3RQ

No Admission or Programme.

With our area being moved up from Tier 2, and in toTier 3, (from this morning) which were the toughest restrictions of what the Government believe will slow the increase in COVID-19 infections, it meant I had a more limited choice of matches today.

I plumped for what was 3rd versus 14th in the league table. Silver End are newly promoted into the Essex & Suffolk Border League this season. They were in the Mid-Essex League last season, where they were top of the Premier Division, undefeated after 12 matches (10 wins, 2 draws), when the season was brought to an end as the pandemic hit. I am not sure why they have by-passed Divisions 3 and 4, but they are certainly looking worthy of their place in Division 1.

The pitch was soft in places, which was not surprising after the heavy overnight rain, and it could do with the grass being cut. It certainly didn’t help either side, although it didn’t stop both teams creating plenty of chances. Silver End were guilty of wasting the vast majority of them, but at least they managed to convert what turned out to be the winning goal a couple of minutes before halftime. It must have been at least the fourth time a striker was played through with a clear run on goal, but this time the chance was finished with a left footed shot past the ‘keeper. The second goal never came, which meant the visitors were always in with a chance of nicking a point, but the hosts hung on to take all three points, which sees them move up to second place in the table.

Driving home I heard the news that our stay in Tier 3 was only lasting 24 hours and from midnight we would be heading to a newly made up Tier 4. The Government are stumbling along from day to day and seem more clueless with each move they make. If this virus is spreading as fast as they claim, then surely the entire country needs to be in Tier 4, or even a full lockdown if that’s what it takes, although the attempts so far show neither seem to work.

Whatever happens, my football spectating has come to a close as far as 2020 goes. It has been my lowest number of grounds I have visited in a calendar year since 1991. With two shutdowns, which meant five months (Apr-July, plus Nov) where I never got to see a game at all, I have only managed 90 newly visited grounds, spread across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

There is a saying “it can’t get any worse”. Unfortunately, with this Government, it certainly can. Let’s hope they finally make a decision that leads us back to something more ‘normal’ next year….

Norfolk F.A. Senior Cup

1st Round

Tuesday 15th December 2020

Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.47

Mundford 4 Blofield United 1, attendance 128

30’ 1-0 (pen)

44’ 2-0

49’ 3-0

78’ 4-0

81’ 4-1

@ The Glebe

St. Leonards Street

Mundford

IP26 5DW

No Admission or Programme.

It has been quite a wait for me to finally see a match under floodlights at Mundford. They have played plenty of midweek matches in that time, but always in August, April and May, when they can play without using them. I know from reading about other groundhoppers visits here, that the floodlight pylons were in place back in 2013, but that the bulbs were still to be added. The lights were obviously working some time after that, but I was living abroad by then, and as far as I can tell, they haven’t played a first team match under lights since November 2016, (might be the only one?) which was three months before I returned to the U.K.

This is actually my fourth attempt in planning to visit. The first time saw the game called off the day before, due to problems with the floodlights, eventually being played at the end of the season.. The second was versus Dereham Town, in the same competition as tonight, where the game was again postponed a day or two before being played. It was then rearranged and the tie was reversed and played at Dereham. The third was last month, when tonight’s match was originally scheduled for 3rd November, just before the second Covid-19 lockdown was due to start, but was then postponed due to concerns over people’s safety due to the pandemic. Tonight was the night I finally got here.

Both clubs are in the Anglian Combination League Premier Division. Mundford are currently in ninth place, whilst Blofield United are fourteenth. As expected, it was a pretty even match, at least during the first half. A penalty opened the scoring for the hosts, before a second was prodded in from close range to give them a 2-0 lead at halftime. I’m not sure if it was due to Covid-19 restrictions, or the fact that the changing rooms are 100 yards from the pitch, but everyone stayed on the pitch for the interval, which meant a turnaround of just eight minutes.

The next goal was going to be so important and when it went the way of Mundford, within five minutes of the restart, it was game over. They totally dominated the second half, but only managed to add a fourth goal with twelve minutes left, with a shot into the bottom corner of the net from just outside the 18 yard box. The visitors rounded off the scoring with an angled shot that seemed to deceive the ‘keeper as it found its way into the top corner.

Mundford now face a trip to Anglian Combination League Division 1 side Easton in the next round. They play in a 3G cage, which is floodlit, so hopefully it will be scheduled as a midweek fixture.

Mid Sussex League

Championship Division

Saturday 12th December 2020

Kick Off 14.00. On Time !

Southwick 1882 2 West Hoathly 0, attendance 68

14’ 1-0

22’ 2-0

@ Southwick Recreation Ground

Old Barn Way

Southwick

BN42 4NT

No Admission

Programme, 28 pages, for donation.

Southwick were founder members of the Sussex County League (now Southern Combination League) in 1920. They joined the Combined Counties League in 1984, before joining the Isthmian League the following season, where they remained for seven seasons, before a return to County League football in 1992.
In March 2020 it was announced that the club’s owner had handed back the lease of their Old Barn Way ground to the council. The club was also believed to be heavily in debt. With no ground to play at, and unable to use the Southwick F.C. name without taking on the old debts, the club disappeared, but the Southwick name would live on. Southwick 1882 were formed in July 2020, starting life in the second tier of the Mid Sussex League, a drop of two levels from the previous club. They are currently playing on Southwick Recreation Ground, which shares the same car park as the stadium, with the two pitches being less than 100 yards apart.

I had visited the old ground on 26th December 2003, when Southwick had beaten local rivals Shoreham 1-0 in a Sussex County League Division 1 match. The ground is lying vacant now and looks in a sorry state, but not too far gone that it couldn’t become home to the new club in the future and all efforts are being made for this to come to fruition. I managed to take a few photographs from the outside of the ground this afternoon…….

Southwick 1882 have certainly made a good start to life in the Mid Sussex League. They came into this game sitting in third place in the league table, having won all six league matches so far. West Hoathly were one place lower, having lost just one of their nine matches to date, a 1-2 loss at home to Southwick 1882. Today’s match was very scrappy. Both goals came from crosses from the left. The first stabbed home from six yards and the second tapped in from little more than a yard out, as the visitors defence stood static, hoping to be saved by an offside flag that rightly never came. The hosts dragged a couple of efforts wide during the second half, but neither side ever looked like adding anything to the 2-0 halftime score.

The win now sees Southwick 1882 go level on points with new league leaders Crawley Devils, but with two games in hand. It is hard to see anyone stopping them from gaining promotion at the first attempt……apart from another aborted season due to COVID-19, especially if we head into more lockdowns after Christmas.

Mid Sussex League

Premier Division

Saturday 5th December 2020

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.04

Ringmer A.F.C. 1 Hollington United 9, attendance 45

20’ 0-1

39’ 0-2

43’ 1-2 (pen)

51’ 1-3

54’ 1-4

57’ 1-5

63’ 1-6

76’ 1-7

81’ 1-8 (pen)

82’ 1-9

@ King’s Academy, 3G Pitch

Lewes Road

Ringmer

BN8 5RB

No Admission or Programme.

This game was originally scheduled to be played at Hollington, but with their pitch deemed unplayable, it was switched here to the new ground of Ringmer A.F.C. So, not only credit to the league for getting restarted at the first opportunity after the COVID-19 lockdown, but also to both clubs in making the effort to get the game played. Due to it already hosting two matches today it meant this game was slotted in as a 6 o’clock kick off, which made it perfect for a double, and even better, it was the only ground in this division I hadn’t yet visited.

Those who have been to a new build 3G will know what to expect. It is as bland as it gets. Spectators are restricted to just one side (clearly and well set out to ensure safe social distancing COVID-19 restrictions are adhered to), but at least here they have the dugouts on the opposite side of the pitch. Despite having a small seated kit stand, it is situated with little thought given to how poor the sight lines are, as it is towards the corner, set back from the two storey clubhouse/changing room building, therefore having a dreadful view of one corner of the ground. These places seem even worse when it rains, which it did here for almost the entire match.

As far as league positions go this was 8th versus 3rd in the table, but the gulf between the two sides was immense. When Ringmer scored a penalty just before halftime, to make it 1-2 at the break, it looked like we would be in for a good second half contest. It wasn’t. Hollington were simply superb and in truth Ringmer were lucky to only concede nine goals in the end.

East Sussex League

Premier Division

Saturday 5th December 2020

Kick Off 14.00 Actual 14.01

Wadhurst United 2 Punnetts Town 4, attendance 39

16’ 0-1

37’ 1-1

45’+ 8, 1-2

61’ 1-3

76’ 2-3 (pen)

87’ 2-4 (pen)

@ Institute Field

Washwell Lane

Wadhurst

TN5 6DR

No Admission or Programme.

So, after a gap of 34 days, it was back to watching live football again. Despite having suffered a second lockdown due to COVID-19, on top of a late start to the season, there were still some leagues and clubs that didn’t want to get back to playing. They seem happier stalling for another week or so, even though it might mean another aborted season as a third lockdown is certainly not out of the question. Many had whinged non stop about not being allowed to play, but having been given the go ahead to start up again, suddenly some didn’t want to. Thankfully, this league were happy to hit the ground running, so fair play to them. There were certainly some tired looking legs late in the second half, but it was the same for both teams, so not really a disadvantage to either of them.

I knew this ground had got a sloping pitch, but photographs don’t really do it justice. In fact, if it wasn’t for the slope, which is end to end, the game might not have survived the recent rain as it certainly helps with the drainage. Although it was soft in places the pitch held up fine.

Today’s match was 4th versus 7th in the league table, with Wadhurst looking to extend a five game unbeaten run in the league, whilst Punnetts Town had picked up seven points from their opening five matches.

The visitors played down the slope in the first half, opening the scoring following a long clearance from their ‘keeper that saw the striker sent clear to finish low into the corner of the net. Wadhurst had forced the visitors ‘keeper into making a number of very good saves before they levelled through a header, but deep into stoppage time Punnetts Town went back in front to lead 1-2 at the break. With the slope now in their favour, Wadhurst really pushed for an equaliser at the start of the second half, but were caught on the break for Punnetts Town to make it 1-3. It was certainly backs against the wall from here on in, but they stood firm with some gallant defending and despite Wadhurst reducing the arrears with a penalty, Punnetts Town then scored a spot kick of their own to come away with a deserved 2-4 win.

Unusually for a Saturday, I had got an evening kick off, where there was a match in the Mid Sussex League kicking off at 18.00.